The Hot 8 Brass Band is one of eight sets to hit the stage this weekend sharing the spotlight with a local delicacy that’s striking a chord among festival-goers at Woldenberg Park at the fourth-annual New Orleans oyster Festival.

Donning official festival garb, Maura Beyer is here for the first time with her dad who has attended before.

“The initial Oyster Festival was on the parking lot of Jack’s Brewery, asphalt very hot. This is beautiful. Everybody should come out. There’s a lovely breeze blowing,” said Mark Beyer.

In that breeze, the mouthwatering aroma of succulent gulf coast oyster bounty prepared by 20 of the city’s oldest restaurants for the 20,000 people expected to come out this weekend.

“It’s basically a white linen on green grass kind of festival, so you have fine dining matched up with great music and entertainment,” said Lucien Gunter, chief executive officer for Acme Oyster House and the Chairman for New Orleans Oyster Festival.

He said its mission is coastal restoration.

A study by the U.S. Geological Survey shows Louisiana has been losing a football field of wetlands an hour and has been for the past 25 years.

“We’re so far behind the eight ball. We’re losing a tremendous amount of land you know every year and we’re not aggressive enough in regards to going out and making sure we’re proactive,” said Gunter

“We’re floating away where we need to do everything we can to try to save Louisiana and the Gulf Coast,” said Beyer.

“It’s just a fantastic idea. It’s a beautiful, fun day. [It] brings the community together and has a special purpose,” said Patricia Petit of Destin, Florida who drove miles with her toddler son to attend the fest.

“As a Louisianan, I’m glad that this is going on. It brings attention to what took place, and it also shows we’re very impressed and very happy about how the city is returning to the charm and all that we love about New Orleans,” said Rosa Fields of Pineville.

An oyster eating contest took place Saturday afternoon, and the World Oyster Eating Contest is Sunday. WDSU is one of many proud sponsors.

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